I'll have to disagree with the SPAD, Duraplane, and "all Aerobirds/Firebirds". IMO, these are all excellent planes for newbies starting out.

A properly built SPAD or Duraplane will fly pretty well, take a lot of abuse before needing repairs, and can be repaired cheaply and easily. I cut my teeth on SPADs. They were cheap and easy to build/repair, and flew pretty well. My favorite SPAD was a 25 size Derelict. It was hand launched and belly landed. I flew it with a 32SX and a .40LA, and it was a blast to fly. It would go about 60mph with the 32SX, and was easy to glide in for dead stick belly landings every time. A fellow club member got a Duraplane to learn on, and I took him up on the trainer box a few times, it flew fine.

I've flown a Firebird Phantom several times, and it was a great little 3-ch plane for the price (used to be only $59, I think it's up to $89 now). A friend of mine had a older version of the Aerobird, and he had a blast with it. In fact, these two planes are the only planes I've ever seen that flew well with just a cheap brushed motor & NiMH power system.